Home? Really? That’s all you had?
He ran a hand over his face and shook his head. “Dumbass,” he muttered, dragging his feet toward his gate. “You could’ve at least tried to sound human.”
By the time he made it through the crowd and onto his 9:00 AM flight to Wilmington, the wheels of his carry-on were practically smoking. He shoved the bag into the overhead bin and dropped into his seat with a sigh, pulling at his tie like it might give him back some oxygen. A headache still pounded behind his eyes, and the promise of caffeine was nowhere in sight.
He leaned his head back and tried to zone out.
But then came the noise.
That same fucking group from earlier—laughter, chatter, energy that didn’t belong before noon—came flooding down the aisle. And with them? Her.
The brunette. The green-eyed calm in the chaos.
She stopped right beside him.
“So, this is your way home?”
Jaxon looked up—and for the first time that morning,reallysmiled. “It is.”
Claire. That was her name. She told him as she settled into the seat next to his.
“I’m Jaxon,” he offered, holding out a hand with the kind of charm he should’ve led with earlier.
“Claire,” she said, slipping her hand into his. Warm. Confident. Unshaken.
“I’m sorry about earlier. I’m not exactly a morning person. You caught me in full survival mode.”
“I figured,” she said with a smirk. “The suit and the death glare kind of gave it away.”
“I had a business meeting last night that went too long, ended too late, and involved way too many drinks. And then I had the brilliant idea to schedule a morning flight. So, here I am. Regret in a suit.”
Claire laughed. Soft. Real. The kind that made something shift in his chest, just slightly, like the tide brushing against something buried deep.
As the plane pulled onto the runway, he caught her white-knuckling the armrest.
“Nervous flyer?” he asked.
“Not really. Just hate this part—takeoff always feels like losing control.”
He nodded. “Yeah. I get that.”
She glanced over, her lips quirking. “Have you ever been to Wilmington before?”
“A few times. I don’t live too far from there. Just flew out for business.”
“I thought so. You had that 'I’m here to make a deal and disappear’ look.”
He chuckled. “And here I thought I looked approachable.”
She smirked. “Not even a little.”
“Guess I’ll have to work on that.”
As the plane lifted off the ground, something shifted—not in the air, but between them. Unspoken, subtle, but there. And even though Jaxon had boarded this plane wishing for silence, for solitude, for just a damn moment to recover—
He didn’t mind this.
Didn’t mindher.
